Copyright 27 October 1951 by Wald-Krasna Productions, Inc. Released by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at Loew's Criterion: 26 October 1951. U.S. release: October 1951. U.K. release: 26 November 1951. Australian release: 8 February 1952. 10,256 feet. 114 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: After the death of her own baby, a World War 1 widow devotes her life to looking after other people's children.
NOTES: A re-make of the 1942 French film of the same name, directed by Jean Stelli from an original story and screenplay by Francois Campaux, starring Gaby Morlay.
Jane Wyman was nominated for an AMPAS award for Best Actress, losing to Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire. Joan Blondell, nominated for the AMPAS award for Best Supporting Actress, dipped out to Kim Hunter, also of Streetcar.
However, Jane Wyman did win the 1951 Golden Globe Award (voted by members of the Foreign Press Association) for Best Actress of the year.
With a world-wide film rentals gross of $3.55 million, one of RKO Radio's most popular pictures of the year. In Australia, the movie proved a particularly strong draw-card, coming in at number 20 on the nation's list of major ticket-sellers for 1952.
COMMENT: A lengthy portmanteau film, tied together by a nurse who is not only the script's central character, but its active protagonist who appears in every single scene! Naturally, the film will stand or fall by the casting of this central role — and unfortunately it falls. Jane Wyman is totally inadequate. This is a woman who is supposed to have spunk and personality, but Jane Wyman's portrayal is consistently dreary, — the mousy, self-effacing stiff-upper-lip of the earlier scenes turning into the garrulous, old, cliché- chattering windbag of the concluding episodes (which are doubly slow-moving as Miss Wyman has chosen to totter through them at half her normal, snail-like pace).
The only other character that runs through the film is that of the misanthropic toy-shop proprietor, a creation of mind-boggling incredulity. It is never revealed that this character has any hidden wealth or private means, yet his shop is always well-stocked even though he persistently chases his few customers away. It is hard to see how the Jane Wyman character could be attracted by this anarchist, especially in view of the charmless manner in which he is played by Cyril Cusack.
The rest of the cast is rather better. Laughton over-acts atrociously, but Joan Blondell brings plenty of zing to her sketch and is only cowed by the impossible dialogue in a climax of sheer bathos. The other cast members flit across the stage but briefly and do not get a chance to make a deep impression, though Agnes Moorehead, Audrey Totter, Everett Sloane and Henry Morgan make the most of their limited opportunities.
The direction is competent but stolidly undistinguished, though it is well-served by the photography and art direction. Still, no matter how good these factors might be, you can't build a house on a foundation of straw — a script that descends to bathos and cliché at every opportunity and a lackluster performance in the pivotal role.
SYNOPSIS: After the death of her own baby, a World War 1 widow devotes her life to looking after other people's children.
NOTES: A re-make of the 1942 French film of the same name, directed by Jean Stelli from an original story and screenplay by Francois Campaux, starring Gaby Morlay.
Jane Wyman was nominated for an AMPAS award for Best Actress, losing to Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire. Joan Blondell, nominated for the AMPAS award for Best Supporting Actress, dipped out to Kim Hunter, also of Streetcar.
However, Jane Wyman did win the 1951 Golden Globe Award (voted by members of the Foreign Press Association) for Best Actress of the year.
With a world-wide film rentals gross of $3.55 million, one of RKO Radio's most popular pictures of the year. In Australia, the movie proved a particularly strong draw-card, coming in at number 20 on the nation's list of major ticket-sellers for 1952.
COMMENT: A lengthy portmanteau film, tied together by a nurse who is not only the script's central character, but its active protagonist who appears in every single scene! Naturally, the film will stand or fall by the casting of this central role — and unfortunately it falls. Jane Wyman is totally inadequate. This is a woman who is supposed to have spunk and personality, but Jane Wyman's portrayal is consistently dreary, — the mousy, self-effacing stiff-upper-lip of the earlier scenes turning into the garrulous, old, cliché- chattering windbag of the concluding episodes (which are doubly slow-moving as Miss Wyman has chosen to totter through them at half her normal, snail-like pace).
The only other character that runs through the film is that of the misanthropic toy-shop proprietor, a creation of mind-boggling incredulity. It is never revealed that this character has any hidden wealth or private means, yet his shop is always well-stocked even though he persistently chases his few customers away. It is hard to see how the Jane Wyman character could be attracted by this anarchist, especially in view of the charmless manner in which he is played by Cyril Cusack.
The rest of the cast is rather better. Laughton over-acts atrociously, but Joan Blondell brings plenty of zing to her sketch and is only cowed by the impossible dialogue in a climax of sheer bathos. The other cast members flit across the stage but briefly and do not get a chance to make a deep impression, though Agnes Moorehead, Audrey Totter, Everett Sloane and Henry Morgan make the most of their limited opportunities.
The direction is competent but stolidly undistinguished, though it is well-served by the photography and art direction. Still, no matter how good these factors might be, you can't build a house on a foundation of straw — a script that descends to bathos and cliché at every opportunity and a lackluster performance in the pivotal role.